Miranda’s family house is on the edge of a hill, in the foothills of a chain of large mountains. In that hill there are monkeys. I’ve heard stories of them coming down to the local gardens and stealing pumpkins. The last two times I was here, I didn’t catch sight of them. But last night I heard that they are still there and still causing trouble. They like to sit on the roof and eat whatever it is they eat, throwing the discarded pieces away where they land in the gutter and clog it up. My wife’s mom got up on a ladder to clean out the gutter, the ladder fell and she scraped herself up a bit. Yikes. I offered to clean out the gutters for her while I’m here, but she said they are all set now.

Anyway, I’m more determined than ever to see these mythical beasts and perhaps capture their images on digital film. Miranda warned me that they are wild and dangerous animals. I told her I’m not going to try to play with them, just take their pictures. Actually went up into the woods behind the house this morning.

Here there be monkeys. I bravely ventured in.

There are quite a few gardens around that are covered with wire cages. It turns out this is specifically to keep out the monkeys.

So they do exist, but so far only one sign of them – some alleged monkey handprints on a dirty gutter pipe. hmmm…